By March 2013, the government had already spent $502 million on an electronic health records conversion project, but Saskatchewan still hasn’t launched the system to replace the paper health records.

“It’s shocking to me that this isn’t done yet,” said NDP Health critic Danielle Chartier. “This government owes Saskatchewan taxpayers an explanation. How much more has it spent on top of the half-billion dollars we know about and why isn’t this complete yet? When will this conversion be completed?”

On Tuesday, the government is planning to “celebrate” that some “core components” of the electronic health record (EHR) system are finally ready.

“This government is obviously much better at patting itself on the back than it is at delivering,” said Chartier. “The eHealth records system should be done by now, and we all deserve an honest answer to explain why it isn’t.”

NDP Leader Cam Broten is calling on the government to use Saskatoon City Hospital to its full capacity as MD Ambulance reveals that patients arriving at Saskatoon's emergency rooms by ambulance are waiting hours as a result of overcrowding.

City Hospital is the newest hospital in Saskatoon, and is a state-of-the-art facility. City Hospital's emergency room is only open for 11.5 hours each day. This government removed acute care from the hospital in 2008 and converted an entire wing of patient rooms to management and administration offices in 2012.

“To have emergency patients arrive by ambulance only to lay in the ambulance bay or sit in the waiting room – for 20 minutes, an hour, three hours – that’s absolutely unacceptable,” said Broten. “Can you imagine if that was your loved one? Hospital overcrowding needs immediate action, and the misuse of resources needs to change, right away.”

A registered nurse says Royal University Hospital (RUH) is consistently overcapacity, short-staffed and lacking desperately needed supplies and equipment, which she says is hurting the level of care. The nurse points to Jan. 1 as a clear example of the ongoing crisis, as ambulances were lined up at the hospital, unable to unload their patients because there was nowhere to put them.

Lynn, a registered nurse with more than 30 years of experience at RUH, says the Jan. 1 situation was the final straw that compelled her to speak out. She describes the overcrowding as a “fiasco,” and says overcapacity conditions have become a daily reality in the hospital, and are getting worse. Lynn has asked that her real name be withheld for fear of repercussions for speaking out.

“Being overcapacity is frequent and it’s becoming more frequent,” said Lynn. She described a backlog of ambulances waiting on Jan. 1. “They couldn’t unload patients. There was no place to put them,” she said.

The NDP is highly concerned about the premier’s suggestion that he'll break his promise to municipalities, short-changing them on the municipal revenue-sharing deal and driving up property taxes and costs on families.

Brad Wall made the comments to the media Thursday.

“The fact is, the government hasn't been properly funding municipal infrastructure needs as it is,” said NDP Deputy Leader Trent Wotherspoon. “For Mr. Wall to break his promise on revenue sharing on top of the short-changing that’s already been going on would squeeze growing municipalities further.

“It would mean higher property taxes and other costs for families all over the province, and that’s unacceptable.”

Program is riddled with misplaced priorities, lack of common sense and failure to respect frontline workers

The government’s adherence to the John Black Lean program goes so far as to include a John Black-approved guide for health-sector workers on how to make a pot of coffee.

The NDP has obtained images of a step-by-step process for making coffee, posted in the Health Quality Council office and branded with both the official logo of the American Lean consultant, John Black and Associates (JBA), as well as Saskatchewan’s “Putting Patients First” provincial health care logo.

The official, standardized approach to coffee-making for the well-educated health experts, Lean specialists, researchers and analysts at the Health Quality Council lists the JBA-approved process for making coffee, breaking it down into eight steps, starting with: “1. Place a carafe below the filter basket (please ensure the carafe is empty before using it.) 2. Remove the filter basket from the machine. 3. Place a filter in the basket…”

“Copyright 2013 John Black and Associates, LLC,” says the document, which also notes the Sept. 6, 2012 document was revised on March 24, 2014.